At least I can still swim!

I honestly can’t believe that it has been 7 weeks since Ironman. The time has flown by! I have spent much time with my family and friends. I’ve been doing yoga like nobody’s business and I’ve been getting [almost] weekly massages and chiropractor adjustments. Between all of that, my back is feeling almost 100%! My feet, on the other hand, are not.

Yesterday I saw a sport doctor about some pain that I’ve been having in my left foot. Almost 4 years ago I had a stress fracture in my right foot that put me on the running sidelines for almost 4 months. It was super stressful for me because I had no idea what it was and I kept running on it thinking that I could push through it. However, now that I’m a much more experienced athlete, I know the difference between pain you can push through and pain that you should pay attention to. This is pain that I need to pay attention to. The pain started 3-4 weeks ago at the base of my little toe. Every time I accidentally bump it on something, a shooting pain goes through my toe and foot… like a needle. THIS is BAD pain. As of a couple of days ago, the more familiar feeling of pain at the ball of my foot has begun. I have not run in 5 weeks and I don’t plan to run until all of this pain stops. I’m not sure that I completely agree with the doc that it’s “just” a stress fracture. The 5th-toe pain seems very bad, but if it doesn’t get better in a couple of weeks I’m going to go to try to see a sports doctor that isn’t at the MediClinic.

I constantly have feet problems because I have ridiculously flat feet and big bunions (that are apparently hereditary and exacerbated by the fact that I used to figure skate). So I am going to do two things:1) Talk to my doctor about my calcium levels (I just had a blood test to test my vitamins, minerals, cholesterol, and all that good stuff) and then take those results to my naturopath and see what she thinks;2) Get a referral to an orthopedic doctor to probably get orthodics for my shoes. Since I have stellar health insurance, pretty much all of it will be covered.

So this morning, in light of my feet problems, I decided to drown my sorrows in a 40-minute yoga session and then a good half-hour in the pool (it’s a start, anyway!). It feels good to get back into the pool and be active. Since Luke’s schedule has changed, I am going to do the Master’s swim club again until December and see where it goes from there. I hope to swim 3 times a week, bike 2 times a week (in addition to biking to work), and do yoga 4 times a week. I’m just absolutely loving the flexibility that yoga gives me and how I feel so grounded and calm afterwards.

In terms of nutrition, I’m [obviously] more conscious of my calcium intake and I’m going to look in my nutrition books about high sources of calcium and absorption inhibitors. For a while after Ironman I tried to eat mostly raw foods, but I kind of gave up. It is REALLY hard to do! Way harder than going vegan. I know that I wouldn’t have a problem if I was in a bubble and I never socialized with people and I didn’t live with someone else and I never ate with anyone but myself. However, this is not my reality. Also, I live in a climate that is cold for 6 out of 12 months. I do believe that it is probably a healthier choice, but I think I’m going to aim right now to being 25% vegan and eat more salads and experiment with raw food recipes. Until then, I’m going to enjoy pasta with tofu, chickpea curries, quinoa (the super food!), pizza, and all of the cooked foods that I previously took for granted.

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What is VT?

This website is one that I, Crystal Clarke, started in 2007 with big ideas. It is morphing slowly into a resourceful website for vegans and athletes alike. I put my personal touch on this website in the recipes and the training blog, as I'm a writer, a scientist, a triathlete & a vegan. So what is a vegan triathlete? Well...

vegan. n. vee-gahn. - a person who refrains from using any animal product whatever for food, clothing, or any other purpose.triathlete. n. someone who participates in races consisting of swimming, biking, and running in that order; there are several varying distances with some standard distances:
Sprint: 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run
Olympic: 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Half Ironman: 2km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run
Ironman: 3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run

Who am I?

My name is Crystal Clarke. I'm a vegan triathlete. I've been vegan since 2002 and a triathlete since 2003. Since then I have completed 1 Ironman, 4 half IMs, several Olympic triathlons, and many other triathlons, duathlons, running races, and biking races. My goal for each race is to finish. I'm pretty slow, but can be a middle-of-the-pack person if I'm not injured and train consistently.

In addition to being a vegan triathlete, I'm a writer, I'm an Agrologist, I'm a soil scientist, I'm a knitter, I'm an anti-consumer, I'm an environmentalist, I'm a budding Buddhist, I'm a yogi, I'm a student of life, and I'm bipolar. I'm a lot of things! I don't fit into any one category - that's what I think sets me apart from other athlete blogs.